You won’t be playing on a PlayStation 4 this Christmas

With all the rumours about the next-generation systems, more specifically Sony’s PlayStation and its apparently imminent reveal, gamers the world over are growing rather excited at the prospect of going next-gen this year. You may have to reign in your excitement – particularly if you live anywhere that isn’t the US or Japan.

The chances of a worldwide hardware launch are essentially less than zero – and once again it’ll be those of us in European territories that’ll end up with the short end of the stick.

According to some of Edge’s inside ninja sources, the PlayStation 4 will be slightly delayed in PAL areas – a result, they say, of the “complexities involved in European distribution.”

“We’re told that PlayStation 4 will launch in Japan and the US by Christmas,“ they say “with a Euro rollout following in early 2014, the delay attributed to the complexities involved in European distribution.”

Of course, this should come as little surprise to those of us in SA. We’ve always waited a little longer for our hardware. The Xbox 360 launched in South Africa at rAge on September 29, 2006, nearly a year after its North American launch in November 2005. We saw the PlayStation 3 hit our shores a little more timeously, coming on 23 March 2007 (the same date as Europe) just four months after US release.

For interest’s sake, it’s worth pointing out that Nintendo seems to like us a little more. We got the 3DS on March 25, two days before our friends in the US and the Wii U just two weeks after our American chums.

Back to the point though; you probably shouldn’t expect a shiny new PS4 under your Christmas tree this year. That’s okay though, because it gives you a little extra time to stash your pennies away, right?

I'm old, grumpy and more than just a little cynical. One day, I found myself in possession of a NES, and a copy of Super Mario Bros 3. It was that game that made me realise that games were more than just toys to idly while away time - they were capable of being masterpieces.
I'm here now, looking for more of those masterpieces.
I am also the emperor of the backend View all posts by Geoffrey →